Whiffletree-hook



-(Ne Model.)

C. H. EVANS lin F. T. DUNLAP.v

WHIPFLBTREE HOOK.

NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. EVANS AND FRED T. DUNLAP, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

WHIFFLETREE-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,929, dated November29, 1892.

Application filed August 22, 1892. Serial No. 443,750. (No model.)4

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that We, CHARLES H. EVANS and FRED T. DUNLAP, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Manchesterin the county of Hillsboroughand State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Whiftletree-Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide an improved whiftletree ortrace hook to be at tached to the end of the whiffletree, cross-bar,draw-bar, or other suitable location on a vehicle, by means of which thetraces of the harness may be readily fastened and unfastened and arepermanently held from becoming accidentally detached. It may also beused for any other suitable purpose; and our invention consists of aforked hook-head between the prongs or projections of which is pivotedone extremity of a guard, while the other extremity locks into anaperture in a spring-tongue, and thus secures the trace `through theeyelet, in the end of which the guard and hook-head have previously beenpassed. The trace-hook may be made of iron, steel, or other suitablematerial, and its parts may also be made of diierent materials, asdesired.

In the accompanying drawings, which illus-v trate our invention, Figurel is a view of our whifIietree-hook in the locked position. Fig. 2 is aview of the same with the guard open for attaching the trace, andFig. 3shows one way of attachin g the hook-head and guard to the whifiietreeby means of a shank.

A is the whiftletree, to the end of which is attached, in any suitableway, the hook-head B, having the two prongs or projections h h, betweenwhich is pivoted one end of the guard or catch C in such wise as toswing freely into the vertical and horizont-al positions shown in Figs.l, 2, and 3. The free end c of the guard C is preferably beveled, asshown, inY order to press against and lift the springcatch D, which hasone end fastened to the whiiiietree and the other end d provided with anaperture d and preferably bent up. On raising the guard C its beveledextremity c presses against the convex su rface of the end d of thespring, lifting the latter unt-i1 the end of the guard enters theaperture d', when the spring slips back to its original position andlocks the guard. To release the guard, the free end of the spring israised until the guard is withdrawn from the aperture, and the tracewhich has previously been slipped over the guard and hook-headwithdrawn.

In the drawings we have shown the hookhead B as having a narrow part orneck at 5c where the trace is fastened, and in Fig. 3 we have shown thehook-head B provided with a screw-threaded shank b', which may or maynot be integral with the hook-head, and by which the latter can beattached to the whiftletree; but we do not limit ourselves to thisparticular form of the hook-head or its mode of attachment, as they maybe greatly varied without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a whiftietree-hook, the combination of the hook-head B, having theneck oc and the pro! free end of the guard, and means for attaching

